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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/23547097">Interlude VI</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/islndgurl777/pseuds/islndgurl777'>islndgurl777</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Star Wars OT Soulmarks [9]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Star Wars Original Trilogy</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>F/M, Gen, Soulmate-Identifying Marks, Soulmates</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-04-08</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-04-08</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-02 16:46:45</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>3,231</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/23547097</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/islndgurl777/pseuds/islndgurl777</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>It’s been nine days since the escape from Cloud City. Nine days since Luke fought Vader. Nine days since she, Chewie, and Lando rescued him from falling to his death below the mining colony.</p>
<p>Leia counts up the seemingly endless hours since then and marvels at how short a time ago her world was turned upside down.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Leia Organa &amp; Luke Skywalker, Leia Organa/Han Solo</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Star Wars OT Soulmarks [9]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/447790</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>15</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Interlude VI</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Don't @ me, okay, I know how long it's been. I KNOW. The worst part? This and the next two have been ready for almost three years. I have no excuses.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>It’s been nine days since the escape from Cloud City. Nine days since Luke fought Vader. Nine days since she, Chewie, and Lando rescued him from falling to his death below the mining colony.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Leia counts up the seemingly endless hours since then and marvels at how short a time ago her world was turned upside down.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Nine days since Han was frozen. Nine days since Fett took him away. Nine days since she’d felt the surprisingly comforting warmth of his presence through their soul bond.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Nine days.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Nine days, and all she can think about are those stupid kriffing last words they’d exchanged before he’d been frozen.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>I love you</span>
  </em>
  <span>, she’d blurted, like some idiot child, desperate for him to hear it out loud at least once before he died.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>(Because he might have died. That was the whole point--checking to make sure Luke would survive the process by testing it on Han first.)</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>(Because she was scared. She’d been tortured, and the monster responsible for the destruction of her planet was about to destroy someone else she loved.)</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>(Because it was true. Even if she hadn’t said it aloud yet, she did love him.)</span>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>I know</span>
  </em>
  <span>, he’d replied, voice steady, eyes never leaving hers, projecting a feeling of desperate reassurance across their bond to her.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>(Why couldn’t he have said, “I love you too”?)</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>(Why did he have to wait until just before he was frozen to open up their bond, showing her how much he loved her, and then allowing it to be ripped away again moments later?)</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>(Why did he have to be such a damn scoundrel?)</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>She’s alone in her quarters on one of the Alliance command ships. It’s the middle of the night and she can’t sleep. She’s too busy thinking over her last moments with Han, raging at him for leaving things the way he had, obsessing over what they--</span>
  <em>
    <span>she</span>
  </em>
  <span>--could have done differently to save him.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Frustrated by her restless thoughts, she kicks off her blankets and rolls out of bed. If she can’t sleep, she might as well work. She picks up her data pad and pulls up a document, pacing around the small room as she reads. Minutes later, she’s startled out of her concentration by a soft knock on the door.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>She can feel who it is before she raises her hand to slide open the door. “Sorry,” she says as it opens, taking in Luke’s rumpled appearance. His eyes are heavy and his hair is sticking up in every direction.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He shrugs and brushes past her. “It’s fine,” he says, yawning. “Not like it was a good dream anyways.” There’s a low level of pain and grief bleeding into their bond.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Vader?” she winces, leading him over to her bed.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He lets out a soft grunt as she pushes him down onto the mattress. “Actually, Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Leia lays down next to him, pulling the covers up to their waists. She turns on her side to face him and sends him a bit of warm empathy. “I’m sorry. It’s been awhile since you’ve dreamt about them. Are you okay?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He stares up at the ceiling and shrugs. “I miss them. I haven’t thought about them in a while. I just wasn’t prepared to see...that again.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>She feels his grief and horror, even imagines she catches the faint whiff of burned flesh before he ruthlessly shuts that line of thinking down, a faint apology echoing across their bond. “I’m sorry,” she repeats softly, throwing an arm over him in comfort.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Thanks,” he whispers. They lay quietly for a while, emotions levelling off a bit. He breaks the quiet by saying, “I miss him too.” His hand rubs the spot over his heart where their soulmarks are inked into his skin.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Her eyes immediately flood with tears. She buries her face in Luke’s shoulder, though he knows her heartache is rioting just below her surprisingly calm exterior. She takes a breath and whispers, “I’m so scared we’ll never get him back.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He sends a strong feeling of reassurance to her. “Lando and Chewie will find where they’re holding him, and when they do, we’ll put our plan into action. We’ll get him back, Leia.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“But what if Jabba kills him? What if we don’t find him in time?” Leia’s voice is small, hesitant.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Luke is a little taken aback. Leia’s never unsure. In fact, of the three of them, she’s</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>the one who can always be counted on to have a cool, collected head in any given situation. To hear her uncertainty and to feel her raw, blinding fear is unsettling. Well, if Leia can’t be the level headed one, the mantle falls to him. He squeezes her tightly and says confidently, “We’ll find him in time, don’t worry.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“And Jabba?” she asks after a moment.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Here, Luke hesitates, because he knows Hutts. He knows how ruthless and cruel they can be, and he’s heard Jabba is the worst of them. There’s no saying what might happen to Han if he’s left with Jabba for too long. “I don’t know,” he says, voice low. “But it’s not going to matter because we’ll find him and get him back soon.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>She’s slightly irritated by his optimism, he knows, but he figures that’s why they’re soulmates; she’s a realist who always thinks about the worst possible outcome of any given situation, and he’s an optimist, always hoping for the best outcome. They balance each other out.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“We’ll find him, Leia,” he repeats, pulling the blankets up over their shoulders.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>She huffs out a breath but doesn’t contradict him. Satisfied, he reaches out with the Force to turn off the lights. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>///</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Eighty-seven. The number floats through Leia’s consciousness as she awakens and she sighs heavily before she even opens her eyes. Eighty-seven days since Han was taken.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>She’s slow to get out of bed, eyes unfocused as she stands and stretches. Another sigh as she steps into the ‘fresher and turns on the water to shower.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Most days his absence doesn’t feel real. She’d lived without him far longer than she’d lived with him, and even after they’d met, it wasn’t like they’d spent a lot of time together. Just those three weeks on the Falcon while they’d tried in vain to outrun the Empire.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>So the lack of his presence in her soul is not usually something worth considering, not when she has a rebellion to help run.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>There are some days, though (and when she wakes up knowing exactly how long it’s been since she felt his presence with her, she knows it’s going to be one of Those Days), when the weight of his absence threatens to suffocate her from the inside out. Her lungs function at half-capacity. Her heart beats at twice the normal rate. Her head pounds ruthlessly behind her eyes all day. When she remembers to eat, food tastes like ashy metal in her mouth. It takes all of her effort to go through the motions until she can finally go back to her bunk and curl up to sleep, drained despite doing very little throughout the day.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>This is how she feels as she steps into her shower on the morning of day eighty-seven. She has to move slowly to wash her hair, letting the warm water soothe her aching head. She has to keep her eyes closed against the harsh light. She has to lather her soap slowly across her shoulder, touching his mark as she goes, heart stuttering because she </span>
  <em>
    <span>can’t feel anything coming from him and what if it’s been too long and what if he’s dead and she never feels him again and--.</span>
  </em>
  <span> She cuts her thoughts off ruthlessly, gagging at the phantom taste of carbonite she feels on the back of her tongue. She turns the water as hot as she can stand it for a few moments, needing the heat and the distraction to loosen up her tense muscles for the day.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>After she exits the shower, she stands at the sink for an interminable amount of time, wrapped up in her towel, staring blankly ahead. “I can do this,” she finally sighs to herself in the foggy mirror.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>When she steps out of the ‘fresher, Luke is sitting on her bed, reading something on a data pad. “Lando’s made contact with someone inside Jabba’s palace. They’re trying to find a way to get him on the payroll so he can get in and we can start planning our rescue.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>She closes her eyes and lets out a shaky breath. “Okay.” Another long breath to even out her heart rate, and she opens her eyes. “Anything on Han?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Luke shakes his head, continuing to scroll through the data. “No, not yet, but Chewie says he saw Fett at a cantina in Mos Eisley, so we know he’s there.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>She breathes out slowly. Fett’s on Tatooine.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Another slow breath. Which means Jabba must have Han now.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Another slow breath, and then another. Her head starts to spin, and she realizes she’s barely breathing at all. “I can’t do this,” she whispers, eyes unfocused.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Luke eases her down next to him on her bed and nods slowly. “Do you need me to get you anything?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>She looks up and locks eyes with him, brain working slowly to decipher what he said. “No,” she says finally. “No. Just. Can you stay with me awhile?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He nods and shifts so she can lay down with her head in his lap. He combs his fingers through her damp hair and the repetitive motion soothes her into a light doze.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>She grumbles when Luke shifts out from under her, whispering about getting her some food, but keeps her eyes closed. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>She doesn’t wake when he returns, but she does wake in the early afternoon long enough to eat the food he’d left on her bedside table. She falls back asleep and doesn’t wake up again until day eighty-eight.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>///</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Jab. Jab. Kick.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>One hundred seventy-four.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Jab. Jab. Kick.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>One hundred seventy-five.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Jab. Jab. Kick.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>One hundred seventy-six.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Jab. Jab. Jab. Jab. Jab. Kick. Kick. Kick. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Sigh.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>One hundred seventy-seven.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Leia reaches out to steady the punching bag and leans forward to rest her head on it for a moment. She breathes slowly to lower her heart rate and get a handle on her anger, but it doesn’t seem to help; she lashes out at Luke as soon as he enters the gym.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Where are they?” she snaps at him.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Leia,” he sighs, stopping just inside the door.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Don’t,” she says, glaring over at him. “Don’t try to placate me. Where. The kriff. Are they?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Lando’s just gotten access to Jabba’s palace. He needs time to--”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Leia snarls at him and starts punching the bag again. “Time? He needs more time? It’s been six months, Luke!”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He winces. “I know.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“What the hell have you been doing the last hundred and seventy-seven days?” Jab. Jab. Kick. “Sitting around on your asses?” Jab. Jab. Kick. “Why isn’t he back yet?” Jab. Jab. Kick. “Don’t you even care?” Jab.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Hey!” Eyes narrowed, Luke steps between her and the punching bag, blocking her hit and gripping her wrapped hand in his. “This is a delicate situation! We can’t just fight our way in, blasters and lightsabers blazing!”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Some Jedi you are!” she yells, yanking her hand out of his. “What good are you if you can’t even save your own soulmate?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Luke’s mouth snaps shut with an audible click and he steps back. She feels a wave of overwhelming fear before their connection snaps shut as well. He inhales slowly, eyes closed. When he opens them again, they’re bright with anger. “You’re not the only one who has someone to lose here. I’ll do what I have to, to get him back. Don’t you ever accuse me of not doing everything it takes to bring him home safely.” With that, he turns on his heel and exits the gym.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Leia lets out a wordless sound of rage and frustration and goes back to hitting the punching bag.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>She exhausts herself with her workout, pounding all of her pain and frustration and anger and fear into the heavy bag. She gets to the point where she can’t lift her arms any longer, and her heart feels heavy not only from Han’s absence, but also from the way she’d yelled at Luke. She lets out a shaky breath and blinks against the sting of tears in her eyes. He hadn’t deserved to be on the receiving end of her helpless hurt. She’s going to have to apologize for what she said.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>/</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>She waits until late that evening to track him down and she finally finds him tinkering with his X-wing.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>His upper body is lost inside the belly of the machine, but she doesn’t hesitate to say, “I’m sorry,” as soon as she gets close enough for him to hear.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>She knows he heard because the sound of his tools and his cursing stops abruptly. He doesn’t come out from within the ship, but she does feel the icy film that had permeated their bond since their confrontation in the gym start to thaw.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I know you’re doing all you can to save him,” she continues. “I know this isn’t a situation in which we can just get in, grab him, and go. I know you have a plan, and a backup plan, and three more backup plans. I know you’re doing everything you can,” she repeats. His forgiveness comes right away, but she’s not done yet. She takes a deep breath and says, “You’re not a terrible Jedi.” He’s unnaturally still, and she knows he is laser-focused on her words. “My father used to tell me the Jedi fought for freedom and justice in the galaxy. That they defended the defenseless and protected the weak, even at the cost of their own lives. I know you’re a great Jedi because you do the same.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>There’s a slow stream of feelings coming from him, slipping unconsciously across their bond to her. Heartache. Fear. Uncertainty. A heavy feeling she thinks may be dread. Relief. Love.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Finally, he ducks out of the ship and steps off the ladder to pull her into a hug. “Thank you,” he says quietly, then after a minute, “I love you.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Startled, she squeezes him tighter. They’d had a connection from the beginning, and their relationship had always been an easy one, but neither had voiced it out loud like that before. Even if it was undoubtedly true. “I love you too,” she says, burying her face in his neck.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He squeezes her back just as tight, and they hold on to each other for a long time before letting go.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>///</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Two hundred ninety-one.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>She allows herself just a minute a day to dwell on the length of his absence before she tucks it aside and focuses on other things.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The Emperor has started to spread his forces further throughout the galaxy, widening his reach, but spreading it a little thin in places, which could mean a tactical advantage on the rebellion’s part soon. Reports come in from outposts across the galaxy every day regarding the number of visible Imperial ships and troops, and it would seem the Emperor is below his recruitment quota for the last couple of years.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Leia fights back a smile as she reads over the reports and tries to control the wild stuttering of hope in her heart. This is what she’s been working toward her whole life, the downfall of the Empire, and they have never been this close to victory before.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>She works all day double- and triple-checking troop numbers, cross-referencing locations on a large map of the galaxy, wondering if they are closing in on victory. She stifles the feeling when she comes to the conclusion that they are missing too much information from large swathes of space just inside the outer rim to make any assumptions about the Emperor’s troops.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>With a heavy sigh, she sets her data pad down on her desk and leans back in her chair. It was silly to get excited about this, but she just had a feeling something </span>
  <em>
    <span>good</span>
  </em>
  <span> was about to happen, and this seemed the most logical explanation.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>She heads to the caf for some dinner. Maybe they’ll have her favorite dessert, and that’s the good she’d been expecting all day?</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>No, the food is just as inedible as ever, and not a bit of chocolate in sight. She scrunches up her nose in disappointment and glances around the room for a place to sit. Luke’s sitting with Wedge across the way, laughing as he tells a story, but he looks up at her as soon as he senses her gaze and waves her over.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>They talk for a while, mostly about Wedge and Luke’s most recent mission, and Luke’s knee doesn’t stop bouncing up and down the entire time. Once Wedge leaves, Leia turns to Luke and says, “What’s going on?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He grins and says, “Finish your dinner, then we can go back to my room and I’ll tell you.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>She looks down and what remains of her dinner and shrugs. “Let’s go now. I’m not really missing out on anything here.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He nods and leads her through the ship to his room, practically bouncing the entire time. She feels something building in the air surrounding them. As soon as they get into his room, he pushes her down on the bed and takes to pacing the short length of the room as he speaks. “I think we’re about ready,” he says.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“About ready to wh--” she sucks in a breath, eyes wide. This is it. “Han?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He nods. “Lando’s given me all the information he gathered about Jabba’s palace, his habits, the people he keeps in his employ, the best ways to provoke the kind of reactions we need, all of it. I just need to make sure the timing is right for us to slip in to take Han.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>She watches as he paces back and forth across the room, rubbing his hand across his jaw in thought. “What do you need me to do?” she asks.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He stops and turns to her. “You’re the first line to get in there, after the droids. It’s a big risk on your part if he catches you, which he likely will.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Luke,” she interrupts, standing and taking his hands. “I’ll do whatever it takes. What’s the plan?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He smiles lightly at her and squeezes her hands. “Alright.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>And he tells her everything.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>///</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>On day three hundred fifty-seven, she walks into a safe house on Tatooine and is immediately enveloped by two scratchy, hairy arms, unable to move as she is squeezed tightly against Chewbacca’s large, warm body.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Chewie. Need to breathe,” she stutters out, and he releases her immediately.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He wails quietly into her hair, arms still around her.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>She gives him an extra squeeze before she steps back to look up at him. “I missed you too.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He lets her go and gestures to the closest doorway. On the bed inside is her change of clothes for the mission to rescue Han. “Is everything ready?” she asks him. “Lando’s in place? The droids?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He growls out an affirmative, to which she nods. “Alright. Let’s do this.”</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
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